Durham · deck
## Before: a backyard no one used
The backyard behind this Durham ranch had a 12-by-12 concrete patio poured in 1986, two big cracks running diagonally across it, and an eight-inch gap where the slab had settled along the back door. The homeowners had lived with it for nineteen years. The grandkids had nowhere to play outside. The grill sat on the patio so close to the back door that smoke drifted into the kitchen every time someone flipped a burger. There was no covered space — no pergola, no roof, no awning — so the patio sat unused every time it rained, which was most weekends from March through October.
We walked the lot twice. The first walk was with them, talking through how the family actually uses the space. The second walk was alone, with a tape measure and a soil probe. The probe is what cost them a day and saved them five years — it told us what the footings had to be on the back corners where the grade dropped off toward the property line.
## After: a deck that pulls the family outside
The finished build is a 20-by-16 raised deck sitting 18 inches off grade, framed in pressure-treated 2x10s on a notched 6x6 post-and-beam frame. We poured six concrete footings at four-foot depths to get below the clay layer the probe caught. The deck wraps the back of the house and lands on a 6-by-6 gravel pad where the old patio used to be, so the steps no longer trip on settlement cracks.
Above the deck sits a freestanding cedar pergola — 14 by 12, rafters on 16-inch centers, clear cedar sealed with a semi-transparent stain that lets the grain show. The railings are matte black aluminum balusters with a pressure-treated top cap. Off the south corner, the homeowners poured a 6-by-8 hot-tub pad — we spec'd the joist layout around it before the decking went down so the tub sits flush with the deck surface rather than on top of it.
There is a real outdoor room now. The grandkids play under the pergola in the rain. The grill sits where they have always wanted it — close enough to the kitchen to make plating easy, far enough that smoke does not drift indoors.
## The decisions that got us there
The biggest call was whether to demo the old concrete slab or build around it. We demoed it — $1,400 to break out and haul off — because leaving it in place would have left a thermal bridge under the deck that held moisture against the framing every spring. The homeowners agreed once we showed them what the underside of the deck would have looked like in five years.
We also spec'd cedar for the pergola over pressure-treated because the homeowners wanted stainable, not paintable. Cedar costs about $900 more than PT for a pergola this size but takes a semi-transparent stain that ages to a silver-gray if you let it — which is what they wanted. The aluminum balusters were the same call: they cost more than wood balusters up front but never need repainting, which matters on a deck this size.
## Timeline, budget, and what to do if your yard looks like this one did
Permit pulled week one. Demo and footings ran three days. Framing and decking followed in three weeks, pergola went up week four, railings and punch list closed at week seven. Total cost landed in the mid-range for a 320-square-foot raised deck with a cedar pergola in the Triangle — exact numbers depend on the size, footing conditions, and whether you are adding a hot-tub pad.
If your backyard looks anything like this one did — cracked slab, no covered space, no room for the family to actually use the yard — the right next step is a fifteen-minute walk-around with Mike. He will measure the grade, probe the soil, and give you a real number on the spot, not a range. See our full Durham deck addition service page for what we typically build, or request a free estimate online and Mike will call you within 24 hours.
Mike answers his own phone. Free estimates, no obligation.